Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings (OTC: OTSKY), announced back-to-back deals in early July, in which it entered a new field, and bolstered one of its existing segments. Otsuka’s research areas are in psychiatric and neurological diseases, hematological cancers,
and kidney, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases.
On July 11, the company announced its acquisition of ReCor Medical, a portfolio company of Sofinnova Partners, for an undisclosed price. The Palo Alto, California-based medical device company specializes in the treatment of hypertension, a new area for Otsuka. ReCor was founded in 2009 by Sofinnova Partners and Professor Jacques Seguin, MD, who became a large private investor in the company.
This acquisition follows the announcement by ReCor on June 15 that the FDA approved the initiation of a pivotal clinical study, RADIANCE II, to evaluate the Paradise® Renal Denervation System for safe and effective reduction of blood pressure in patients with hypertension.
Previously, on May 23rd, ReCor announced that its RADIANCE-HTN SOLO study of the Paradise System met its primary efficacy endpoint and demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
Following the acquisition, ReCor plans to continue to develop and evaluate the Paradise System in patients with hypertension in preparation for worldwide commercialization, as well as explore its use in additional clinical applications such as heart failure, kidney disease and metabolic disorders, while also building the Otsuka Medical Devices’ incubation and clinical development hub in the U.S. and Europe.
The next day, Otsuka was back with news that it will acquire Visterra, Inc. for $430 million. The clinical-stage biotech company develops antibody-based therapies for the treatment of kidney diseases and other hard-to-treat diseases.
Visterra’s proprietary Hierotope platform enables the design and engineering of precision antibody-based product candidates that bind to and modulate key disease targets. Following the acquisition, Visterra will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka America, Inc. This transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.
Visterra is backed by Polaris Partners, Flagship Pioneering, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, MRL Ventures Fund, Vertex Ventures HC, Serum Institute of India Private Ltd., Temasek Holdings, Omega Funds, Cycad Group, Lux Capital, Alleghany Financial Group Ventures, CTI Life Sciences Fund and Alexandria Equities.
